INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines - An oath-taking ceremony involving the group of former national badminton coach Errol Chan and supervised by the Philippine Olympic Committee has drawn the ire of Philippine Badminton Association president and former First Lady Amelita ?Ming? Ramos, who said the move was meant to ease her out of the federation.

?They scheduled an oath-taking (Wednesday) and I was not even informed about it,? Ramos said in a statement. ?They are trying to keep me out, and I heard the POC president (Jose ?Peping? Cojuangco) was to lead the oath-taking.?

Ramos pointed out that her leadership has the blessing of the International Badminton Federation and the Philippine Sports Commission.

Ramos accused Chan?s group of discrediting her for the sake of ?business interests?.

Ramos was actually elected PBA head twice this year?in January, when she called an election, and on May 9, during a POC-supervised poll where Chan was picked as vice president.

But Ramos said Chan continued to refuse to recognize her as president.

?I?m tired of going to the POC because it seems like the POC is dictating on our association,? she said. ?Where?s our autonomy now??

Retired police general Edgar Aglipay, the PBA executive vice president, said the federation?s troubles began when the PBA voted for shooting chief Art Macapagal against the incumbent Cojuangco during the POC polls in November last year.

Ramos said Chan was sacked as head coach because there was little progress with the RP team, and that some groups, which represent some of the finest players in the country, ?don?t want him around.?

?We don?t have vested interests here. We don?t sell rackets and shuttlecocks,? she said.